Engaging with shoppers on social media is just as important as engaging with them in-person and Facebook (the most used social media platform) is one avenue that shopping malls and storefronts are focusing on more. With 2.07 billion monthly Facebook userswho spend an average of 30 minutes per day on Facebook it's no wonder that more and more shopping malls and storefronts are turning to Facebook for social media marketing. Creating engaging content and utilizing Facebook Ads can be easy if you understand your target audience, but keeping up with competitors and keeping shoppers interested continues to be a challenge.

Staying up to date on social media marketing trends is one solution that has high ROI. Below are a few 2018 trends that shopping malls and storefronts should be aware of:

Video marketing is growing quickly on social media. With over 100 million hours of video being watched everyday on Facebook it's no surprise that shopping malls and storefronts are turning to videos and GIFs (easy to consume, short, looping videos) to promote their events and products. Photo booths that offer branded GIFs ("GIF booths") are becoming increasingly popular when it comes to brand activations at shopping malls and storefronts for this specific reason. Not only can GIFs be branded, they can also be instantly shared to social media platforms such as Facebook and work well for viral campaigns.

Social media influencers drive sales and are a shopping mall and storefront's best friend. If more and more online shoppers are making purchases based on online reviews, then social media influencers (who are known to heavily use video and GIFs to communicate with their followers) have a strong impact on what shoppers purchase. For example, 40% of Twitter users reported making an online purchase from a store specifically because of a tweet by a social media influencer. Social media influencers have influence because they tend to post content that is trending before other people do so, which is why working with one and giving them catchy content to post is a must. Not only are the GIFs they post effective, they spread quickly and organically.

GIF activations aren't just great for social media marketing though. Photo booths that offer GIFs like our iBooth allow shopping malls and storefronts to collect information about shoppers whether that be names, emails and phone numbers via lead capture or demographics, needs, and behavior via digital surveys. Digital incentives are also a unique way to entice shoppers to not only share their GIFs to social media, but motivate them to return to a shopping mall or storefront at a later date. So when considering how to market your next shopping mall or storefront event, don't forget that social media marketing and GIF booths that offer shareable content are one of the best investments you can make...because why spend time on social media marketing when your shoppers can do it for you?